


Like A Golden Flower

by spitshineboi



Category: Antiope/Menalippe - Fandom, Clëis
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 09:03:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16082882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spitshineboi/pseuds/spitshineboi
Summary: A little girl starts her journey of life with Antiope and Menalippe as her mothers





	Like A Golden Flower

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this idea caught my attention... JrBenson whatcha think?  
> Possibly much more later
> 
> Some words of note
> 
> Akratismos --- breakfast  
> Mana --- Momma  
> Métér --- Mother (pronounced may-ter)  
> Falakroú --- Baldy
> 
> Any requests? Ideas? Bueller, Bueller, Bueller?

A girl whose hair is yellower than torchlight should wear no headdress but fresh flowers.  
~ Sappho

The first night with Clëis Antiope held her close in her arms all night long while Menalippe held the two of them. The child was so small and so perfect it was a wonder. And her eyes… they were so blue you could go swimming in them just as you could in the blue waters of Themiscyra. Antiope knew what to do when she started to cry in the middle of the night. She certainly couldn't breast feed Clëis but she had plenty of fresh goat's milk and a little honey to give it a sweet flavor. She'd have to find a better way of feeding her than just dribbling milk in her mouth, but that was something to pursue in the morning. Menalippe sat and stared, smiling broadly, as Antiope fed their daughter and, eventually, got her turn. Then Clëis promptly peed on her.

That first night? It turned them into a true family.

The next morning Hippolyta arrived at the door early in the morning with nappies, Diana's cradle and baby blanket and some toys, and a contraption to better feed Clëis. It was a funnel made out of leather that had a nipple-like end with a small hole in it. This funnel fit on a small ceramic bottle which was filled with goat's milk with honey. They tried it right away and it seemed to work.

"I had the leather-smith working on this last night," Hippolyta said. "This is the first one she made. If it works she'll make more for everyone else." 

Hippolyta's bright and happy smile said she was going to spoil this child the same way Antiope spoiled Diana. It was only right. But when she got to hold Clëis anyone could see the look of pure love on her face.

"She's perfect," Hippolyta said. "She looks just like you Antiope, down to those gorgeous blue eyes!" And, once again, Clëis peed on her too.

It sort of turned into a theme for the first few months.

And so Clëis grew. Eventually she learned to eat solid food and crawl around. Antiope and Menalippe, through trial and error, had created a comfortable sling for baby Clëis so that she could ride in front of one of her mother's chests. The one wearing the baby that day didn't wear armor so Clëis could ride close to her body. It worked and it worked well especially when they were training. One of them could easily go from group to group while the other stayed and ran sword, shield, bow, or spear forms and practice quite easily. Breaks were sweet as the two women would come together holding or playing with Clëis. The sling became very popular on the island that year. They also started basic training for all the young girls who came from the island. Schooling in the morning and practice, practice, practice in the afternoons. This also helped both Antiope and Menalippe as they could work with the young ones too. All was good.

As Clëis learned to talk she began to call Antiope Mana or Mama; Menalippe became Métér (May-ter) or Mother.

On the first-year anniversary of their homecoming Hippolyta held a big party in the palace gardens on what would become a yearly event. All the mothers and sisters of the children came together with the children to celebrate new life with cakes and goodies and presents. It was lovely.

The wheel of life turned and the children and infants grew.

One evening Antiope was sitting on the floor playing with Clëis when she stood on her own. She called for Menalippe who came in from the dining area and sat next to her as Clëis stood holding on to the couch. With Antiope urging her on Clëis took her first steps… all three of them before falling back on her rump. She made an exasperated noise and crawled back to the couch and tried again while both of her mothers praised her attempts but urged her to try again and again until she was able to walk from one of them to the other and back again. Then Hippolyta was sent for and, right on cue, she walked yet again as Hippolyta made her way into the house. Clëis was learning and learning fast and well.

When she was well into her second year Clëis got into a bit of trouble. She didn't do anything wrong exactly, but, well, it certainly wasn't pretty. Menalippe was out in the garden just puttering around and Antiope was inside with Clëis and was momentarily distracted by Penthesilea and Palla who came by to say hello. After what was truly only a moment she looked down and saw Clëis was no longer at her feet. Antiope swallowed the by Artemis' bowstring moment and frantically started looking for her with her visitors help. They found her quickly, honestly less than a minute later, on the kitchen floor pouring honey on her head. But that wasn't all. She had also managed to find flour and had that on her head too as well as olive oil. Her hair was a wet sticky mess. 

Antiope's jaw dropped. She tried to clean her up with water but that certainly didn't work at all. Finally, exasperated, she yelled "Menalippe!"

Menalippe raced in from the garden to find Antiope holding their squealing and wriggling daughter and laughing so hard tears were falling from her eyes. Menalippe joined her and, together, they decided that they would need to cut Clëis' hair. Just a little cut wouldn't do either. They practically had to shave her head. Penthesilea helped with the cutting and Palla entertained Clëis by making faces at her. The next day, a break day for the warriors, Menalippe and Antiope walked up to the palace with their baby girl to have akratismos with Hippolyta and Phillipus. They spent nearly the entire meal passing the squirming child between them, calling her Falakroú or Baldy, and laughing at her exploits.

A few months later Antiope was sitting on the floor playing with Clëis and her blocks. Actually, Antiope was playing with the blocks trying to get her daughter interested in them. Clëis could care less. She had her fuzzy little sheep doll and was bouncing it pretending to walk it. Every time Antiope had three blocks atop each other she did take one small measure of interest, she smashed them down with her doll making a fake gorgon growl. Menalippe was sitting on a couch watching them and laughing uproariously. Antiope threw a block at her, which she promptly caught and tossed aside.

Yes, they were a family.

Where most people would walk Clëis ran. Where most would run, well, Clëis ran faster. She was never still, not even in her sleep as she moved from one position to another over and over again. Funny though, she took to sleeping in her own room quite well, only trying to climb back into her mothers' room and bed when she was scared or not feeling well. Of course, following family tradition, she demanded bedtime stories which Menalippe and Antiope were more than happy to provide. Not only did she like stories about the Amazons' history, she adored fables and myths and stories about hunting and just about anything. She took them in and played with what she learned the following days, pretending to be part of the stories over and over again.

Then came the whys. 

"Mana, why can't I stay up all night?"

"Because I need to sleep," Antiope answered.

"Why?"

Well, that was a good one. Why did she need to sleep? She thought about it for a minute.

"I don't know the exact answer Falakroú," Antiope replied (she still used that nickname even though the hair had grown back plus some), "But I do know that if I don't sleep it is extremely hard for me to function and work well the next day."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"But why?"

"Stop bothering your Mana Clëis," Menalippe said. That was the end of that conversation. But another one like it would start soon enough.

When Clëis was young both her mothers played peek-a-boo with her constantly just to hear her laugh with joy. As she aged this fun game turned into hide-and-seek with both Antiope and Menalippe hunting for her. It was easy to find her when she was two but it became more difficult by the time she reached four. And it certainly was more difficult when they played at the palace with both Hippolyta and Phillipus. But the adults had learned of many hiding places with Diana so she was always found as long as they stuck to the rules: a) one floor at a time only, and b) the garden and stables were off-limits. It worked and they all seemed to enjoy the game. Phillipus was a push-over though and didn't always find Clëis even when she helped hide her. Clëis learned this fast and having an aunt like that was a good fun thing. All was well and all was good.

The rules came about as results of Clëis' exploits. Let's face it, she got in a lot of "trouble" which basically just sent her mothers over the edge with worry. The stables was a two-pronged problem. She really disturbed the animals running in and out of stalls and she almost got trampled after disturbing Penthesilea's big stallion while many females were in estrus around him. He was still very close to wild and was in the process of being trained so being bothered by a four-year old was not something he appreciated. 

The one floor rule was because Clëis was fearless.

By way of explanation, Clëis, while playing hide and seek with her family in the palace saw a ladder. It went from the kitchen door up two stories to the roof where a group of Amazons were working replacing roof tiles after they had placed a large statue of Pallas Athena on the roof. One looked over to the ladder and saw a thatch of honey blond hair and bright blue eyes staring at them. With trepidation, but without any abrupt movements, the Amazons went and got Clëis from the top of the ladder and brought her up to the roof so that she could see around and then promptly brought her down to the ground level where her métér Menalippe was standing with a worried look in her eyes. The one floor rule was placed immediately after Menalippe held Clëis. It was a good rule for such a rambunctious little girl.

No matter what happened though Clëis loved spending time with her mothers. She loved going to the parklands and the beach. Everywhere she went with them she learned and, honestly, that's what she loved the most, learning new things and exploring her abilities with her mothers. Every day was a new adventure for Clëis and every adventure was a new way to learn. Life was wonderful.


End file.
